In the modern world, the limitation of natural resources has focused attention on the use of two resources that are relevant to the present invention. First, there is concern that an increase in world population places a greater burden on the availability of fresh potable water and the allocation between agriculture, industry and residential use. It is well understood that the former enterprises, such as a farm or factory, are substantial users of water. But on the other hand, while residential water use may be significantly less on a per-site basis, the vast number of residences aggregate to a water usage that is a heavy burden on this natural resource. Water conservation has therefore become a matter of worldwide attention requiring reconsideration of conventional water delivery systems in various types of facilities. The conventional hand-wash basin, in both public and private facilities is a great source of water waste due to user habits and limitations of conventional water delivery systems. Attempts to limit the water wasted is apparent in public areas where hand wash basins are controlled by an infrared sensor that permits or blocks the flow of water, generally at a single though comfortable temperature. Waste also arises as a result of the common habit of “waiting for the water to warm up” before washing hands, taking a shower, or filling vessels for use in culinary applications.
In many, if not most, hand-wash basin applications, as well as in kitchen applications in a home, and in many commercial and industrial applications it is desirable to provide a source of hot water for use in its many applications that are familiar to the reader. The conventional source of hot water is the hot water tank that in modern facilities is an electric or gas operated water heater although there are modern alternatives to the classic or conventional hot water tank. Of course, maintaining water at an elevated temperature by any means requires the consumption of energy thus increasing the burden on those natural resources used to produce energy. In typical present hand wash basin applications, water may be adjusted to an elevated temperature and allowed to run while the user is pursuing some parallel activity thus resulting in hot water being wasted by return to a conventional water drain and deposit into a sewer. The inattention to the running of hot water may be due to the fact that the user may be engaged in an activity in which both hands are required thus precluding the user from promptly terminating the flow of water resulting in the energy waste.
Still another problem that exists in terms of water delivery systems, particularly of the hand wash basin usage as described above, is the need for maintaining hygiene or sterility. Users often approach a hand wash basin with the typical handle or handles with hands that have been soiled or have been exposed to microscopic organisms that may contribute to sickness and disease. When the user grasps the handles of the conventional water fixture, the transmission of these hand-carried microscopic organisms onto the handles become a potential source for spreading the organisms and thus spreading the possible disease or sickness they carry. It would be highly desirable to sanitize the use of the conventional water fixture by controlling the temperature and flow rate of water other than by the user's hands and the water fixture handles.
This objective is commonly referred to as “hands free” operation of the water delivery system. Maintaining a sterile condition of the water fixture can also operate in reverse from that just described. For example, the user may draw water engaging in an activity in connection with the water that fails to sanitize the user's hands such that when the user wishes to terminate use of the water delivery system, they grasp the handles of the conventional faucet and thus perhaps pass dangerous microbes on the user's hands on to the fixture handles where it awaits a subsequent user and the spreading of disease or sickness caused by the organism.
The present invention offers a partial solution to limited natural resources as well as to maintain a hygienic condition by avoiding the transmission of infections, sickness or disease as a result of usage of a water delivery system.